DOCTOR STRANGE: Multiverse of Madness is, all in all, an okay but enjoyable film that lacked much to set it apart from any other Marvel entry. A film that actually loses the plot at the most important time (Act 2) and kind of drags along, as well as feeling rather disjointed and too ambitious at times.
Part of where it goes wrong was the forced, drawn-out, uninteresting action scenes. At the start, there is a fight with a huge demon in a dimensional rift, followed soon after by a fight with a giant octopus summoned from the Multiverse that goes on way too long than it needed to be. During Act 2, when we have all these big cameos appearing, the action feels even more forced. That’s because our protagonist isn’t there because of any story beat plan and even after all of it, he gains nothing. We’re at the same place again, although, he now has to fall back onto Act 1 to stop Wanda.
And speaking of Wanda, then there’s no way she can be in the Avengers anymore. I am not hating on her because she turns evil but because of how Marvel is trying to portray her. At the end of WandaVision, she is portrayed as a poor suffering character when she literally risked the lives of many. But fine, as long as she learned her message at the end of that show but no. She starts this film just the same as that show so why does that series even exist. And she is portrayed exactly in the same way at the end of this film, even though, she kills many innocent people. Sadly, it just uses WandaVision as a basis to build the plot and doesn’t really have any flair for us to care.
Where this film did well was visual. Some scenes had lots of visual interest, such as scenes used to show the turmoil in the Scarlet Witch’s mind, at one point making her entire home go crazy, with light fixtures flickering and cabinets opening and closing. Of course, there are also scenes where the visuals weren’t so great like the octopus scene and the Dead Strange sequence. Regardless, visuals don’t make a film great but the story does and this film offers nothing much. It’s fun at times and the protagonist does change in the end which is why I found it a little enjoyable but there’s nothing more to like.
Overall, this film suffers from a screenplay that is so loose that it falls apart in Act 2 which should be the most important part of a film. Even the cameos are forced and do nothing to push the plot forward. Still enjoyable but nothing memorable.
